Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus aestivalis |
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aubépine succulente, fleshy hawthorn, succulent hawthorn |
eastern mayhaw, May hawthorn |
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Habit | Shrubs or trees, 40–80 dm. | Shrubs or trees, 30–120 dm. | ||||||||||||||||
Stems | older trunks usually bearing compound thorns; twigs: new growth reddish green, glabrous, 1-year old dark, shiny red-brown, 2–3-years old becoming dark gray, older ± paler gray; thorns on twigs numerous, usually recurved, shiny, 1-year old dark blackish brown, stout, 3–6(–8) cm. |
twigs: new growth reddish, glabrous, 1-year old dark brown (in late summer); thorns on twigs 1-year old dark, ± shiny, older grayish, 2–4 cm. |
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Leaves | petiole 1–2 cm, narrowly winged distally, glabrous, eglandular; blade rhombic-elliptic to broadly rhombic-ovate or elliptic, 4–7 cm widest near middle, subcoriaceous mature (then often blue-green), base cuneate (constricted), lobes 3–5 per side, obscure to well-marked, sinuses shallow, lobe apex usually subacute to obtuse, margins serrate except proximally, veins 6–8 per side, impressed, apex acute to subacute, rarely obtuse, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial scabrate-pubescent young. |
stipules broadly circinate, margins glandular; petiole 3–8 mm, length 10–16% blade, winged distally; blade ± dark green, elliptic to oblanceolate or narrowly so, 3–5 cm (sometimes much larger on extension shoots, then sometimes few-lobed, sometimes deeply so, even almost tripartite), lobes 0, margins entire proximally, serrulate to crenate in distal 1/2, usually eglandular, teeth tips sometimes with black glands, veins 4 or 5 per side, apex acute to subobtuse, abaxial surface glabrous except for tufts of usually pale gray (sometimes ± rufous) hair in lateral vein axils, sometimes also along midvein, adaxial ± shiny, scabrous or glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | 15–30-flowered; branches pubescent or glabrous; bracteoles linear, 1.7 cm, margins glandular. |
2–4-flowered umbels; branches glabrous or sparsely long-pilose; bracteoles narrow, margins sessile-glandular. |
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Flowers | 12–17 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous or pubescent; sepals narrowly triangular, 4–6 mm, margins glandular-serrate to glandular-laciniate, abaxially glabrous, adaxial pubescence not recorded; stamens 20, anthers usually red or pink, rarely white, 0.5–0.7 mm; styles 2 or 3. |
12–30 mm diam.; hypanthium glabrous; sepal margins ± entire, glabrous; anthers pink; styles 4 or 5. |
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Pomes | bright or deep red, lustrous, suborbicular, (4–)7–10(–14) mm diam., glabrous, rarely pubescent; flesh mealy or succulent mature; sepals spreading-reflexed; pyrenes 2 or 3, sides pitted. |
red, sometimes yellow, 8–20 mm diam., shiny; flesh edible; sepals obtuse; pyrenes 4 or 5. |
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2n | = 51. |
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Crataegus succulenta |
Crataegus aestivalis |
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Phenology | Flowering Feb–Mar (later northward); fruiting May–Jul. | |||||||||||||||||
Habitat | Seasonally inundated depressions, ditches, sink holes, streamsides | |||||||||||||||||
Elevation | 10–100 m (0–300 ft) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution |
CT; IA; IL; IN; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; MO; NC; NH; NY; OH; PA; RI; TN; VA; VT; WI; WV; MB; ON; QC
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AL; FL; GA; MS; NC; SC
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Discussion | Varieties 5 (5 in the flora). Crataegus succulenta ranges through the southern Great Lakes area to the middle St. Lawrence and southern New England, to Minnesota, to Iowa, Missouri (very rare), and Ohio, the Appalachians to North Carolina. An outlier has recently been recognized in Manitoba. The dark twig colors of Crataegus succulenta are dramatic in winter and the coral red expanding bud scales are conspicuous in spring, more so than in most other species of hawthorn except C. macracantha. In summer, its commonly bluish green leaves, eglandular petioles, and impressed venation combine with thorn and twig characteristics to make this and C. macracantha usually instantly recognizable. Crataegus succulenta often forms suckering thickets in the north. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Crataegus aestivalis is common in northern Florida and southern Georgia and continues up the coastal plain to New Bern, North Carolina, and west to Mississippi; it is scarce in the northern portion of its range. Crataegus aestivalis is variable in flower and fruit size. Crataegus maloides has unusually large, and C. luculenta unusually small, flowers; C. cerasoides has large, late-ripening fruit. Crataegus fruticosa is distinguished by late anthesis, at nearly full leaf expansion, and could be mistaken for a form of C. crus-galli. Crataegus monantha is a dwarf form from northern Florida and might prove useful as a dwarfing stock for the mayhaw industry. Crataegus aestivalis is widely used in the southern states for conserves. The description of Crataegus aestivalis by Torrey and Gray, together with the distribution they ascribed to it, indicates that they included C. opaca. The type of C. elliptica Pursh (reputedly at BM or OXF) has not been located and that of C. lucida Elliott (at CHARL) has not been accessed; these two names may belong here. C. S. Sargent (1920) thoroughly discussed the typification of C. aestivalis, suggesting that C. elliptica and C. lucida represent the same species. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 9, p. 518. | FNA vol. 9, p. 547. | ||||||||||||||||
Parent taxa | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Macracanthae > ser. Macracanthae | Rosaceae > subfam. Amygdaloideae > tribe Maleae > Crataegus > sect. Coccineae > ser. Aestivales | ||||||||||||||||
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Synonyms | Mespilus aestivalis, C. cerasoides, C. fruticosa, C. luculenta, C. maloides, C. monantha | |||||||||||||||||
Name authority | Schrader ex Link: Handbuch 2: 78. (1831) | (Walter) Torrey & A. Gray: Fl. N. Amer. 1: 468. (1840) | ||||||||||||||||
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